MoBar65
Difficulty:  | Review Topic: Port of Entry Review
Arrived at Dulles just before 7:00 a.m. and ours was the only arrival at the time. There were very few passengers on the visitors line and we were at the counter in no time. The officer called in to figure out what to do, then slit open each of our packets, peaked through without taking anything out then stamp-validated our IVs. He did take the customary digital photo and fingerprints.
He then directed us to collect our luggage and head to the secondary inspection room. There was a porter who approached us when he noticed the dozen or so suitcases and took care of all of them. At secondary, there was a gentleman ahead of us. When our turn came, our packets were opened, rearranged then a new form for each of us was filled and we were asked to sign it and add an inked index print. The officer was very gentle with our kids. He finger printed our 11 and 13 year old kids and when he noticed the disappointment of the younger ones, he made a show of taking theirs as well to appease them. Afterwards we were sent to the customs counter where a few pieces were scanned before the customs form was collected and we were waved through, even though we declared a large 5-digit valuation of our luggage. The first officer did write something across the form with a yellow highlighter.
The whole process was smooth and pleasant and took about 30-45 minutes, mostly because there were six of us with six packets and loads of luggage. By the time we were done the entire customs area was deserted except for the six of us. We were into the main terminal well ahead of our connecting flight as we planned a three-hours connecting time.
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Port of Entry Member Review #15772
Entry Date: 2014-10-22